The Standalone version of the incredibly popular zombie-survival mod has been in development for some time now, and here’s what we’d like to see in the finished product:
A redesigned Chernarus + More locations
Chernarus, a fictional heavily forested post-Soviet country littered with various sizes of industrial towns and military zones is an awesome location, but to truly fit the zombie apocalypse premise and create a more enjoyable DAYZ it needs an update; This means most importantly clear signs of outbreak and struggle – boarded up buildings, debris, blood splatters and trails in overrun areas, zombies wearing bio-hazard suits and gas masks and an abandoned laboratory in a secluded area, the possible source of the infection. We’d also like to see a lot more enterable buildings, less generic towns and more unique locations like quarries, caves, bunkers and maybe even a subway, more wildlife and more realistic and detailed interiors, i.e. more furniture. Along with Chernarus we’d also like to see other maps. The community has recently added support for maps, take Fallujah or Utes for example, these could be given the “Plus” treatment like Chernarus, but we’d rather see a brand new map, built from the ground-up for DAYZ.
Refined mechanics
ARMA 2 has some clunky mechanics, it’s partly intentional to mimic the reality of combat, but it can be cumbersome at times. The realism should definitely be in DAYZ, but trivial things like vaulting over fences or changing weapons while running should feel natural and easy. Melee combat needs to be drastically improved.
Genuinely scary, smarter Zombies
The Zombies need a complete overhaul. As it is, zombies are really just a nuisance in most cases and aren’t too frightening. This is a major issue as they’re obviously a fundamental part of the game. They need to be terrifying, vicious, and most of all pose a real threat to the player. The cosmetic look of the zombies needs a lot more variety, the screams and howls need to be more intimidating and the animations and AI need to be massively improved – this means fluidity in zombie movements rather than sharp zigzags, context sensitive damage (e.g. when shot in the leg, Zed begins to limp or its leg is blown off) and less robotic, predictable AI. There could be different types; some slower ones could roam across the map in hordes (think The Walking Dead) while some quicker and more agile Zeds go it alone (think 28 days later). “Slower” being a medium paced jog and “quicker” being a full-on Usain Bolt-esque sprint.
An intuitive UI
Don’t keep anything from ArmA, start from scratch. It needs an absolutely minimalist HUD, an inventory system that’s easy to navigate and a dedicated key for picking up loot, entering/exiting vehicles etc. Take note from current RPGs in terms of default button mapping and inventory set-up. No more scroll wheeling!
Additional survival aspects
There’s a great deal of depth involved in the completion of simple tasks like filling a canteen or fueling a vehicle, we need more of this. We want different items of clothing suitable for different weather conditions like jackets, raincoats, different kinds of shoes, a wet-suit for diving etc. More ways in which to live off the land, like fishing, trapping and tracking; All of which would of course require you to find the necessary equipment. A more complex health/healing system that includes medication specific to several different diseases and more realistic methods of healing broken bones, i.e. splint and duct-tape instead of just a morphine shot.
